here is some GREAT information

[beandip]

I have used the info. from this site for the past 2yrs. and found them to be right on the $ give them a look there is two sites look at them both . I would like to know what you people think of this information site . Gary www.geocities.com/zgarage2001/engine.html geocities.com/garage/head.html

[sjcurtis]

I have just replied to "Eric B" about R200 diffs using the same site through a diffrent entry point then the next thing I do is read your post ("Beandip"), and realise that we have both been at the same site. I think the information at this site is excellent with some great detail for hunting the correct combination of parts.

worth the visit

Steve

[HS30-H]

That is a useful page / site for sure, HOWEVER - there is also plenty of disinformation and just plain inaccurate conjecture on there too..............

I'm sure that there is a lot of useful information to be gleaned for tuners and parts swappers who are searching through junkyards to find alternative parts, but I wish that people would research the facts a little better before putting them up on the web for the whole wide world to see. People ought to be mindful of the fact that they are using a global medium when they are putting up local-market information as gospel.

This kind of information is what I would expect to see in the back of a local Z club newsletter. He is publishing things that will be of use to certain areas but are wildly inaccurate for others. Take the quote about 5-speed transmissions ( ".........Datsun SEEM to have made three types of 5-speed for the Z...." ) - this is probably true if you are looking at things from your back yard in Pigsnuckle Alabama, but it does not reflect reality. I would expect to read the word "SEEM" if I was reading a Stephen Hawking treatise on the shape of Time and Space - but not about Nissan trannies! What about all the Option boxes, and what about all the factory type codes!

The quote about the LSD Diffs. also shows that the information is not properly researched, QUOTE: ".....Nissan only made a Limited Slip Diff. very late in the Z's life...." - this is rubbish. A Limited Slip Diff. was available from launch in October 1969 as a factory Sports Option part ( or stock on the PS30 and PS30-SB ) - but was not offered on the stock USA / North American market cars until much later on. Other markets also received cars with the FS5C71A transmission from the get-go, but just because the USA market versions had the 4-speed this does not mean that the 5-speeds did not exist................

I'm all for the free and unrestricted distribution of knowledge and facts, but if anyone is going to go to the not inconsiderable effort of putting a page like this up on the web then surely it would be a good idea to tell the WHOLE story, and not just a local snapshot of it through a metaphorical hole in the fence. Just like books and magazine articles, I think that anything put into print on a page ( and that includes the web ) should be taken very seriously and changed if any errors are discovered. In most cases, that just never seems to happen.

Glean from it what you can, but you must try to take this kind of information with a big pinch of salt. It only applies to one market area and what the guy knows about it. This is not the whole truth and nothing but the truth by any means...........

Alan T.

[kmack]

Alan,

Please don't take this as being disrespectful, but if you feel this guy's website is inaccurate, then you should contact him and let him know. Not just flame about it here.

We all have learned over the course of time that your knowledge base is very well informed. But you have had access to people and other information straight from Japan that most over here on this side of the pond could only dream about. So whatever info we can gather from limited sources here, is all we can go by. We all know Nissan was not very good at documenting every aspect of every car that left the factory or with what options were available. So we're left with digging through junkyards and looking at hundreds of cars to try and come up with a good idea of what was being offered.

I'm not trying to say your wrong. Just trying to play Devil's advocate and shed some light on what we face from over here. Some of us will never has the access to the knowledge base you have. Unless you help us by writing it down somewhere for the world to get to...

[CoastGuardZ]

My Dad lives in Salem, Alabama...right next door to Pigsnuckle.

Big Al,

I'm in complete agreeance with you on the informed posting of information. But, unfortunately here in this tossed salad of a country we lovingly call America we're not always privey to the full gauntlet of information held elsewhere. And Nissan has always been a bit of a mystery over here (at least in the areas of the East coast I've lived in). She's kinda the red-headed step child of the Japanese cars everywhere I've been. Good example... I worked at a Nissan dealer in Charleston, SC and was also in the process of rebuilding a '72 1/2 Datsun 620 pick-up (R.I.P.). I walked in the Parts department and asked to see the NISMO catalog, the Parts manager look at me and said "Nis-what". So I then I asked about any performance parts for the 1600 motor. Which he replys, "Nissan doesn't make any performance parts." So I left before I got in argument.

Anyway, just backing up the Texan (k-mack) on our difficulties here in the States. Love all your info Alan. Every time you put a little bit of fact in a reply I do a little cut and paste to a word document.

Nate

[HS30-H]

Gentlemen,

Beandip asked what others thought of that site, and I told it how I saw it. I think that's healthy. It was positive critique with an attached caveat, and I was hoping that Beandip was not just expecting more people queueing up to heap praise on it..........

kmack, I may very well send the guy an e-mail to point a few things out - but frankly I can't see him re-writing the site just for little old me! It would be a hell of a lot of work. Like I said, it contains a lot of useful parts interchange info. that will be especially useful to people who are looking to upgrade their USA / North American spec. HLS30 series cars. No personal disrespect to the guy - but he put the information on the WEB, and the way it reads through makes it sound like ALL cars were the same, when in fact he's only talking about one market version.

I quite often have people contacting me to ask questions about cars and specs. that do not seem to conform to the template of the HLS30 series cars. This is because they are surprised to find that some details and specifications on their cars are not the same as the USA / North American market versions. They read sites like the one we are discussing, or read something like the Wick Humble "How To" book and then can't figure out why their car is somehow different. Quite often I get people telling me that "all early cars came with 4-speeds", or such-and-such a Diff. ratio was "standard" on 1970 cars. This is because they are believing that the USA / North American market models were all there was, and they cannot figure out why their UK-market HS30 or Japanese Domestic market S30 is not conforming to the data. Thats what I want people to understand; the S30-series Z car was a JAPANESE car that was sold in many different guises in many different markets. The HLS30 USA / North American market version was only ONE variant of many.

kmack, I appreciate your restrained criticism ( like I say, Beandip asked for comments and that's what I gave. If he had not asked then I probably would not have taken the "bait"....... ) but please understand that I probably have just as much difficulty in finding accurate information and data as anyone else. In fact, I have had to arm myself with as many facts and factoids as possible in order to defend myself and my cars against the misinformed comments and accusations of people who really ought to know better. One of the best examples of this was trying to obtain proper insurance cover for a vehicle that is unique of its type and specification in Europe. There are no other genuine factory-built Fairlady 240ZG's over here in Europe - so as far as the insurance companies are concerned it "does not exist"! Thats the kind of nonsense that made me try to dig into the history of the cars and find out as much as I could about them. However, I've said it before and I'll say it again - there is still plenty that I do not know ( and may never know ) and I do not profess any different. I have been concentrating on the period race scene for "our" cars, and the non-USA market versions ( particularly the Japanese Domestic market models ) and my interest really lies with the Factory built race cars and all the Option / Race equipment that was offered for them. I really don't know that much about the USA-market versions as there was plenty to find out about the "other" market versions. I am always willing to learn - but if I see a mistake or misapprehension then I think its worth putting it right or at least pointing it out. Trouble is, it can lead to all sorts of finger-pointing and stone-throwing of the "Glass Houses" variety!

Coastguard, I would have been tempted to "inform" that Nissan dealer about the wonderful performance parts offered by Nissan ( since the early to mid Sixties no less ) but I can sympathise with you walking out of the shop. That's sometimes how I feel up here on my soapbox telling the world its round and not flat, when all the books say it flat - so it must be true................

For God's sake don't cut and paste too much of my sermonising. If you stick it all together it might send me to eternal damnation in ZX hell!.................

I know I'll never win any kind of David and Goliath battle against accepted / acquired wisdom. I just think that it IS worth throwing a few stones and hoping that Goliath will think a little about what he is saying. I know I don't stand a chance when I see a quote on "Zhome" to the effect that "The Z was an American car built in Japan........" - read 'em and weep!

Alan T.

[beandip]

I dont give a rats arse if you like the site or not and frankly you are WAY out of line attacking the people here in this country . I live in Portland Oregon but you slamed me by inference by your attitude. From what I read by your two replys you are a pompus arse . You have a great deal of knowledge in the area of these cars but as far as being personable you are stupid. Your attitude towards others is why the IRA was so strong. Just who in the hell do you think you are? Just by shere numbers there are more Z cars in California and Arazona than there are in the whole of Europe. And this is the market that this is info. is ment for. I am personally offended by you and others like you , by your pompus attitude. By the way we won the war!

[HS30-H]

The world IS flat after all................

OK, Beandip - here's my alternative reply to your originally posed request for comments;

"Wow what a great site. I agree with everything you say about it. Thank you."

Better?

I'm certainly sorry that I seem to have personally offended you, but you will not make the situation any better by bringing up the IRA. That's a subject that you had better make sure you know what you are talking about before you start throwing it around in my direction.

Oh, and thank you for winning the war.

Replies in English please.

Alan T.

Take your seats Ladies and Gentlemen, this one is going to run and run..........................

[beandip]

Enough has been said already. And I think it is beneath the both of us to carry on over such a trivial matter. After all what are we doing here this is crazy. In the blink of an eye we could both be dead and who would care of what we are argueing over anyway.

[beandip]

by the way I was't referring to WW2 I was thinking of way back when we were the " Colonies". And I ask your forgiveness for the crack about the IRA that was out of line.

[Alfadog]

I guess not many people are as hardcore into their car's history as some others are Alan... I guess it isn't so far fetched that he might just be thinking that the same car wouldn't be considerably different in different markets. And I'm guessing he doesn't have any contacts at Nissan in Japan - why would he want to? After all, the cars are the same in both countries!!

You bring up some valid points however in the end he is just someone who knows enough about US market Z's to want to help others via the Internet. Maybe you should email him telling him what's what and he should slap right up the top "The Following Information Relates to US-Spec Z Cars Only" or whatever you deem appropriate.

HOWEVER as for beandip not taking Alan's critique very well, remeber you said at the beginning of your post "I have used the info. from this site for the past 2yrs. and found them to be right on the $". To me that's just crying out for Alan to come and inform all of the truth, and remind us not to believe all you read (especially when it comes to the Inernet!). If I were you beandip I would just take it in stride as someone trying to educate us. Maybe you didn't like his tone, but that's the thing about the Internet - it's very easy to get offended by reading what someone says in a slightly different way to how they intended it.

AND YOU ALAN, should be ashamed of yourself. Go write a damn book about it all - NOW!!!

[Mike]

Guys, cut the flamage. I like a nice debate, but, keep it Z related... thanks.

No harm done.